We headed back to Matt Worswick's Michelin-starred The Latymer at Pennyhill Park for this month's Networking Lunch - 17 chefs joined our sponsors for a six course bespoke tasting menu prepared by Matt and his team.
Chefs
Shantibhushan Lal, Executive Chef, JKS Restaurants Brigadiers London; Gavin Dunn, Group Executive Chef, ISS; Keiron Stevens, Sous Chef, Adam's; Nuno Goncalves, Executive Chef, D&D London; Andreas Bollanos, Executive Chef, SushiSamba; Thomas Kirby, Head Banqueting Chef, Exclusive Hotels; David Hughes, Head of Culinary, The Leatherhead Club; Adam Summers, Senior Sous, The Waterside Inn; Tim Allen, Chef Owner, The Flitch of Bacon; Ben Dutson, Divisional Executive Chef, Sodexo; Debbie Nicholls, Head Chef, Coal Rooms; Chris Bassett, Head Chef, Quality Chop House; Lee Cooper, Development Chef, Ice Cook School; Claudio Cardoso, Corporate Chef, Billionaire Life Group; Christian Sharp, Head Chef, Cornerstone; Jack Hazell, Head Chef, Tredwells and Shaun Lawson, Head Chef, Twickenham.
Menu
Snacks
Jamon Iberico ham with bergamot
Truffle parmesan cheese gougères
Smoked baba ganoush, cardamom yoghurt and Bombay mix
Bread
Sourdough bread, Abernethy Irish butter and fermented black garlic emulsion
Colchester Oyster
Poached oyster, pickled apple, Attilus Oscietra caviar and marigold,
garnished Borage Cress and Blinq Blossom from Koppert Cress
Pouilly Fumé, Domaine De Ladoucette, Loire Valley, France, 2017
Rack of hogget, heritage potato, wild garlic, morels and smoked goat’s curd
Cabernet Sauvignon, Hartenberg, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2015
Strawberry and vanilla tart
Fraises des bois strawberry (from les vergers boiron), vanilla and lemon verbena
Chocolate
Chocolate délice, milk crumble and yoghurt sorbet
Le Cèdre Malbec Vintage, Château du Cèdre, South West, France , 2015
The menu at The Latymer
The headline sponsor of this month's lunch was Les Vergers Boiron which featured in the dessert, Strawberry and vanilla tart - Fraises des bois strawberry (from les vergers boiron), vanilla and lemon verbena.
Before the first course guests enjoyed snacks of Jamon Iberico ham with bergamot, truffle parmesan cheese gougères and smoked baba ganoush, cardamom yoghurt and Bombay mix.
Colchester Oyster
Other dishes which featured on the menu were Poached oyster, pickled apple, Attilus Oscietra caviar and marigold, garnished Borage Cress and Blinq Blossom from Koppert Cress and Poached Norwegian Skrei cod loin, spiced Brixham crab and sauce américaine.
Matt also served his signature dessert, chocolate délice, milk crumble and yoghurt sorbet.
What the chefs and sponsors had to say about The Staff Canteen Live networking lunch at The Latymer
Tony Prince from Williams Refrigeration said: "Today was fantastic, I got to meet a lot of new people and I did some great networking - there was an interesting selection of chefs who are all interested in buying equipment in the future which is brilliant for Williams as a business."
chocolate délice, milk crumble
and yoghurt sorbet
On whether he would recommend the lunches to other suppliers he said: "One hundred percent! It's a way to get your foot in the door with companies and chefs you wouldn't normally be in touch with."
Representing the headline sponsor, Les Vergers Boiron, Julia Guiho said: "This was my first time attending one of The Staff Canteen lunches, it was a nice opportunity for me to speak with the end users. I'm used to working with the distributors and not the chefs even though we have some chefs who have been using our product for thirty or forty years!
"Because the chefs were from a range of different sectors across the industry, I had the opportunity to talk about all of our products and specifically those suited to each chef and where they work."
As well as enjoying a great free lunch, the chefs were encouraged to network with their peers as well as suppliers. Andreas Bollanos, Executive Chef at SushiSamba said: "It's been a great experience, especially being able to mingle with other chefs outside of the kitchen.
"The sponsors were all big names, who are very established in the market and we already work with quite a lot of them - this is a great opportunity for chefs to meet them."
Also enjoying The Latymer was Keiron Stevens, Sous Chef at Adam's, he said: "It was a great lunch and I really enjoyed it. The food was phenomenal!"
On our sponsors he said: "The Skrei cod was fantastic and Hans from Norwegian Seafood was really easy to talk to. I wear whites from Chefs Works already so it was great to see them here."
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